


My Thoughts, I Confess

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Fic, Ficlet, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn, Some angst, Will is insecure, because i dont know how to transition, but its the bomb, but not a lot, come on eileen is a good song, i know they make fun of it, nico doesnt know how to deal with feelings, solangelo, that has chapters, this is basically like a oneshot, will/nico - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-07 12:58:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12233319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Will Solace liked beaches in the mornings, soft conversations, popular 80's music, and his best friend. Nico di Angelo liked watching the sun set, catching up on movies he'd missed, the fries at the bottom of the bag, and his best friend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy.  
> How is everyone. Well rested? Hydrated?  
> Solangelo is honestly my favourite and here I am with another fic about how these two dorks got together. Dark Rick Riordan show me the forbidden love story of Nico and Will.
> 
> Anyway, this one's a little different from my others. For starters, it's a little more well done, so the editing was more intense and I've been more focused on continuity. Secondly, if you didn't see this in the tags, this is basically one big one shot with multiple chapters because how does one transition? How do the characters get from point A to point B? New chapter, that's how. 
> 
> We're looking at 4 chapters here, each chapter a little longer than the one before it, and I've already written out 3 of them. I'm just editing now and making sure everything lines up nicely because, like I said, continuity is important. That being said, there won't be scheduled updates. I'm a busy college student who writes for fun, and this project is a little more tedious than my past ones have been (though I feel more confident about these ones? anyway). Updates will come when I feel like I've done what I can, whereas in the past I've updated just because the chapter was finished. 
> 
> Okay! You're probably done with my rambling, so lets get this show on the road!

It started with Come on Eileen.

Common knowledge around Camp Half-Blood was as follows: when an Apollo kid starts jamming, don’t interrupt them. They’ll either storm off in an anger-and-drama-fuelled tizzy, or they’ll just start the song over until they’re satisfied. 

Will Solace’s _don’t interrupt me_ song just so happened to be Come on Eileen. 

Kayla sat at the Apollo table for lunch with her siblings and Nico Di Angelo. Nico sat with the Apollo kids every day-though generally with his best friend Will-and having him around didn’t bother the Apollo kids. A friend of their brother’s was a friend of theirs. 

“Why does he like 80s music?” She asked to no one in particular. She had a smile on her face as she started picking apart her sandwich. 

“I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t know good music if you smacked him with it.” One of her brothers replied, earning a good chuckle from his siblings. Nico kept quiet. 

Nico wasn’t used to sitting alone with Will’s siblings. For most meals, Will and Nico sat together. After the Giant War, Nico spent three days in Will’s infirmary under direct orders from the blond boy himself. Nico remembers getting poked, prodded and, most of all, scolded for his reckless behaviour. Since then, Nico was instructed to eat every meal with Will so that he could keep an eye on him, and that argument was sound enough for Chiron to let it fly. When Will came back to camp the next summer, Nico tried to sit at his own table for meals like he had throughout the school year while Will was in California, but was ultimately instructed to, once again, sit with Will and his brothers and sisters; Nico didn’t mind all that much, Will was good company and his siblings were…fascinating. Nico’s only sister didn’t live near him, so it was somewhat interesting to see the sibling dynamic they all had going on. Apparently, today’s dynamic included analyzing Will’s happiness. 

“How come Will can play whatever songs he wants but I can’t play my songs?” Asked a young girl-Mary, Nico thinks-while looking up at Kayla.

“Will’s in charge of the whole infirmary. He works so hard, he _deserves_ aux cord privileges,” Kayla explained, and Mary nodded, content with that answer. 

“We should take those privileges away, this song is crap.” Kayla and Will’s brother, Brodie, muttered into his food. A few heads nodded. 

And thus, the lunchtime conversation became about Will’s music taste. 

Why 80s music? Does he know he wasn’t around in the 80s? Does he know there are better songs today? Can Will even _play_ the violin? No, Will can’t play the violin. Well, he doesn’t, anyway. He probably could if he really wanted to. 

Nico knew that some of those questions were directed at him. As Will Solace’s designated BFF, Nico was expected to have these answers, but he didn’t. Will told him once that he liked Come on Eileen because it was just one of those songs you can’t _not_ sing along to, but Nico doubted that answer would be considered ‘acceptable’ to his siblings. No, the Apollo kids were as ruthless as modern English teachers, constantly looking for the deeper meaning behind things. Why Come on Eileen? Does Will like a girl named Eileen? Does he have a girlfriend back home? Does she know he’s a demigod? 

Suddenly, the conversation became less ‘why is Will happy’, and geared more towards, ‘who’s his girlfriend?’

Nico lost his appetite. 

But let it be known, Nico cared for Will. Quite a bit, frankly. Okay, so there was that one time he had that _one_ dream about Will, but if you were to ask Nico he’d say the same thing like a broken record-it didn’t mean anything. Nico’s had weird dreams in the past. He once dreamt that Leo decided to rebuild Festus as a giant flying pigeon instead of a dragon. His subconscious didn’t often dictate his conscious. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t forget this one. The way dream-Will had looked dressed up in a suit and tie, his hair combed-with an actual comb, and not just by his fingers running through it unconsciously like he always did while he figured out the cure to ailments or exactly how Connor Stoll managed to get that gash on his armpit-and the smile on his face when Nico gave him his hand. 

“Nico?” Kayla asked, and Nico realized he’d been too deep in thought.

“What?” 

“We said, has Will said anything to you about a crush recently?” 

“No.” Nico’s answer was final. Will hadn’t. Will and he had never really worked that way They talked about their problems to one another, but they never really got too deep with it. A simple, ‘today sucks,’ was usually good enough, and they definitely didn’t talk about relationships. Kayla shrugged and sighed. 

“She’s probably not from camp, I haven’t seen Will hang out with any girls lately.” She told them, and everyone nodded. “Well, other than us,” she added, and then took a bite of her sandwich. “And it’s definitely not any of us.” 

That last comment hurt Nico just a little more than he thought it would, and he mentally scolded himself for it.

Let it also be known that Will Solace was not dancing alone in the infirmary to his favourite song. Gods, no. Absolutely not. For a professional medic like himself to be so reckless around sharp objects? PFFT.

At least, that’s what he would have said if he cared.

Will was generally a man of high importance when it came to Camp Half-Blood. If you asked him, he would tell you he wasn’t as important as Jason Grace, who built monuments to minor gods because he wanted everyone to feel included, or Percy Jackson, who was the prophecy boy not once, but twice, or Nico Di Angelo, or Leo Valdez, or Piper McLean, or Frank Zhang, or Hazel Levesque, or Annabeth Chase, or-

You get the idea. 

Will wasn’t one to pity himself. He knew he was important. He knew that, after his brothers Lee Fletcher and Michael Yew, he was one of the best medics Camp Half-Blood had seen, and he knew he saved more lives than he could count. But that didn’t make him a hero like the others. Normally, this fact wouldn’t bother Will. Why would he want to go through the traumas that the heroes had gone through? Why would he want to wake up in a cold sweat at least twice a week, scared out of his mind of a threat that was long gone? Will was there when Percy had his first night terror at the ripe age of 13 and he was there when the Prophecy Seven needed patching up after the war last summer. He’d seen the effects of war. He wouldn’t wish that on anybody. 

And yet, a part of him just wished he could prove himself like the others had. 

Will’s father was Apollo. Apollo stood for music, theatre, poetry, Archery-most things that weren’t very _in your face_ , not unlike Poseidon or Athena or Ares or Zeus. That doesn’t mean Will wishes he had a different father, no-Will just wishes he’d been graced with some more heroic traits. Healing the hurt is all fine and good, but for once he wanted to be the one getting healed, not the other way around. 

Will’s problem, he decided, was that he was insecure. 

So, to combat the insecurity, Will played his favourite song at an obnoxious volume that he _knows_ will gain him some choice comments later, but for now he doesn’t care. For now, he’s going to continue counting bricks of ambrosia with Come on Eileen blaring through the camp and he’s going to dance along as if he doesn’t have any issues. As if he actually stands a chance with the Son of Hades when there are much better adversaries right beside him. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to publish this chapter today as well because I realize the last one was uncharacteristically short. My hope is to have this whole story posted within a week tops, but I've also got 2 tests this week. Thursday I'm completely free of all scholarly obligations (so far) so it looks the most promising.

Lunch the next day had been filled with gossip, and Nico wasn’t very excited about it. 

Sure, he enjoyed the odd rumour, who doesn’t? But when the rumour was about Will, it felt wrong. Nico felt like he was talking trash about Will behind his back, but he wasn’t saying anything. Admittedly, he didn’t really try to stop the others from saying anything either, but Nico decided that their moral compass was for them to figure out, not him. 

“I heard him singing again,” Charlotte, a 14 year old Apollo camper, whispered loudly to the table as she sat down. Once again, Will Solace didn’t grace his siblings with his presence for lunch, saying that there were antidotes that needed to be mixed and scalpels that needed to be cleaned. Everyone else had shrugged off this answer as acceptable, but Nico knew better. Nico knew Will was hiding something. 

Will and Nico looked very different from the outside. Will was sunshine and rainbows and smiles. Nico was the smell of rain and sitting by a fire at night. Will was the rays of light peeking through a dark cloud, and Nico was that cloud. They went together splendidly, and Nico knew their dynamic could be challenged by few-Percy and Annabeth for sure, Jason and Piper had a solid chance, Leo and his right hand? Maybe. But Nico knew that despite their differences, he and Will were alike in many aspects as well. Will ran from his problems just like Nico did, but instead of hiding in a dark room or running off to Camp Jupiter, Will opted to slapping a smile on his face and pretending his problems just weren’t there. Nico knew that Will would need someone to talk to soon, he would just need some time first. 

“What was it this time?” Brodie asked. Charlotte waved everyone in closer.

“Jackie and Wilson. You know, that one song by Hozier.” 

“We all know Hozier, Char,” Kayla commented, and Charlotte rolled her eyes. 

“It gets better,” she whispered, and Nico made a mental note of just how loudly she did so. He didn’t lean in like Charlotte’s siblings had, but he could hear her perfectly fine. “Will was changing the pronouns.” 

This, of course, earned an overly dramatic gasp from every Apollo kid at the table as they sat back in their seats. Even Nico looked up from his food and cocked an eyebrow at Charlotte. 

“Yep. He was singing like it was about a guy, not a girl.” 

“He doesn’t have a girlfriend then,” Kayla thought aloud. 

“Obviously not. So who’s the guy?” Brodie asked, and everyone stayed silent for a second, clearly running names through their heads. And then, one by one, they started suggesting.

“Jason? No, they don’t hang out enough.” 

“Percy? No, he’s too straight for Will.” 

“Leo?” 

“Gods, can you imagine Will with Leo? He’d lose his temper before the first date.” 

Nico tried to imagine Will on a date with Leo, but he couldn’t think of anywhere they would agree on. Leo liked destruction and fire and _girls_ , for the most part. Will liked beaches in the mornings, soft conversations, hanging out without having to do anything in particular, and-most of all-helping others. The only thing they seemed to have in common was their way of handling their problems. And sure, Leo had given his life for the war effort last year, but he’d also faked his death for six months because it just didn’t occur to him that anyone would have wanted to see him right away, to let people know that he was still alive. Will would have at least sent a letter. 

Leo couldn’t be further from what Will wanted. 

Or maybe Nico just didn’t know Will like he thought he did. 

“What about Connor Stoll?” 

Nico isn’t sure who asked that, but he is sure that even the mere suggestion of Connor Stoll and Will Solace made his blood boil.

“No,” Nico found himself saying. Unfortunately, Will’s siblings wanted him to back up his argument. “Connor and Will? He’s always complaining about how often Connor’s in the infirmary.” 

“Maybe that’s why he’s always there!” Charlotte shouted, and Kayla shushed her. 

“Holy Hera, Char, you might be onto something.” Brodie said, and she smiled brightly. 

“Think about it. Connor’s _always_ in the infirmary, and Will is _always_ telling him to stop hurting himself during capture the flag! Why would Will care? People hurt themselves all the time and he doesn’t complain about others! It’s only ever Connor.” 

Nico mulled it over in his head. Connor and Will. Will and Connor. Connor was a Hermes boy, the type to stick a plastic spider in your sock drawer and call it flirting, or put some love potion that he bought off the Hecate kids and slip it in your morning coffee, causing you to fall in love with the first person you see. Kayla and Cecil had that problem just a few weeks prior, and Cecil still couldn’t look Kayla in the eye after he tried to profess his undying love to her at breakfast that day. 

“Maybe Connor getting injured all the time is his way of flirting?” Sam, another sibling, suggested. Kayla shrugged. 

“It’s possible. But would he really injure himself just to see Will?” 

“Who says he has to injure _himself_? Travis could be doing it for him.” 

“Good point.” 

Unfortunately, Nico had to agree, that was a good point. Maybe Connor did have a crush on Will. Maybe Will liked Connor back. Why hadn’t Will told him? It isn’t like Will not to tell Nico things. 

Nico felt like he was spiralling. 

Sure, Nico was secretive, but that was by default. It’s not that he wanted to hide every aspect of himself, he just didn’t offer up personal information at every lull in a conversation. Most people ignored this, let Nico do his own thing, and assumed that if he wanted to talk, he would. Sometimes Nico did want to talk, but he didn’t know how to. Will was always best with that. Will knew when something bothered Nico and he knew exactly what questions to ask to get Nico to open up. And if Nico, for whatever reason, really didn’t want to talk about his problem right then and there, all he had to do was say so and Will always respected that. 

Nico appreciated Will so much for all the effort he put into him, and Nico had thought that, since Will usually came to him for his problems without prompting anyway, he would talk to him about romantic feelings as well. Just because they hadn’t in the past didn’t mean they couldn’t. 

Perhaps Nico thought wrong. 

But perhaps, Nico was a little relieved, too. He hated that feeling. He hated how he wanted to help Will in any way that he could, but knew that if Will starting talking about his affections for another boy, well, Nico might just lose it. 

Nico had feelings for Will. He always had. Chances were, he always would. Nico liked Will before he had gotten completely over Percy. Nico had noticed Will in the Titan War. Nico had wanted to get close to Will so badly with no idea how to do so that he had been _excited_ when Will prescribed him with three days in the infirmary. 

So maybe the idea that Will had affections for someone else hurt just a little more than it should have. 

~~~

Nico was more than a little disappointed when he found Will patching up Connor Stoll later that afternoon. Nico had a sparring session with Jason and Will always insisted that the boys come by for a quick check up afterwards. It’s not like everyone who ever sparred had to check in and make sure all their limbs were in tact, but Jason and Nico had a habit of really trying to rip each other apart. Powers, swords, dirty tricks learned from other campers-if you can name it, Jason and Nico would use it against each other, and in the end they’d shake each other’s hands and walk to the infirmary together. 

Upon entry, and upon spotting Nico’s current least-favourite Stoll brother, Jason watched as Nico’s shoulders tensed, though he thought it was at the sight of Will, not Connor. Will hadn’t seen the boys come in yet and took that opportunity to nudge Nico with his elbow, catching his attention, and cocking an eyebrow. Nico knew it was Jason asking if he was all right, and Nico just shrugged. Jason nodded slowly, putting that topic of conversation on the back burner for now. 

“Hey guys!” Will finally said when he spotted them. His smile was as bright as ever, and for a moment Nico had forgotten why they’d come until Will instructed them to sit in their usual waiting chairs. When Will disappeared behind a white curtain, Connor stood, shouted a quick thanks in Will’s direction, and then passed Nico and Jason on his way out, greeting them quickly. Nico wasn’t sure what to make of the interaction. 

“What’s eating you?” Jason asked quietly. Nico shrugged again but he could feel Jason’s eyes on him.

“I’m just sore. That last travel took a fair amount out of me,” Nico said, and then rolled his shoulder for dramatic effect. He hated lying to his friends. 

“Okay. Sick punt back there, by the way,” 

“Thanks, Annabeth showed me.” 

After a moment or so of silence, Will emerged again. Nico couldn’t stop the smile on his face at the sight of his best friend, and Will smiled brightly as well. 

“So who won today?” He asked, and then pumped some hand sanitizer onto his hands. 

“Jason did,” Nico told him, and Jason smiled smugly. Nico elbowed him. “It’s only ‘cause you hit me with that stupid tornado move. It caught me off guard,” 

“You can’t make excuses, Nico.” Jason smiled, and Nico rolled his eyes. Will caught himself smiling fondly at the exchange and cleared his throat to pull himself back into reality. 

“Okay, arms up!” He instructed, and both boys stuck their left arms up. As Will did at the end of every match, he held onto their wrists, finding their pulses, and then closed his eyes and let his powers do their work, telling him where every damaged point in their bodies was hidden. And, like always, Will’s touch sent an electric shock down Nico’s spine. 

“All right,” Will said quietly with his eyes still closed. “Jason, you have a bruise on your lumbar L-3, but other than that, you’re fine.” He took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. “Nico, pulled soleus muscle, but nothing else, you’re both free to go.”

“Are you sure? Nico said he was sore from shadow travel,” Jason pointed out, and Nico momentarily cursed Jason’s caring nature. Will furrowed his eyebrows slightly in confusion and cocked his head to the side, and Nico couldn’t help but think that Will looked an awful lot like a golden retriever puppy. 

“I didn’t see anything, but I could check again?” He suggested, and Nico just shook his head. 

“It’s fine, really. It doesn’t bother me anymore,” he said. Will nodded like he didn’t quite believe him. 

“Well, anyway, you’re fit as a horse. Nobody’s in danger of dying today.” Will told them. Nico and Jason stood at the same time, thanking Will before exiting the infirmary and walking back to the arena to drop off their armour and borrowed weapons. 

Nico’s not sure why he thought he could have gotten away with the interaction they had in the infirmary without Jason bringing it up at some point, but he was surprised nonetheless when Jason asked why Nico had told him he was pain when he wasn’t. 

“It's nothing, Jason, don’t worry about it.” He’d told him, but Jason gave him a _don’t give me that_ look, and Nico knew he wasn’t going to get out of this one easily. 

“We think Will might be seeing Connor,” Nico said slowly, and Jason took a second to process it. 

“Connor. Like, Connor Stoll, Connor?” 

“Yeah,” 

Jason pursed his lips like he always did when he considered things, and then frowned. 

“I can't see them together.” He said. Nico shrugged. 

“It’s just what his siblings and I figure. He’s definitely into someone, and Connor’s a better guess than anyone else at this point.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Jason said. Nico gave him a confused look. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I think you know what I mean, Nico.” 

“If I knew what you meant, I don’t think I would have just asked you what you meant.” 

“Point taken.” 

Nico chuckled dryly as they reached the arena. Jason kept talking as they stripped out of their protective armour. 

“I just can’t see a guy like Will with someone like Connor Stoll.”

“Why not?” Nico asked.

“Well, for starters, nobody’s dumb enough to put a spider in Will’s sock drawer. He knows where all the pressure points are.” 

“We don’t think Connor’s flirting like he usually does. We think…” Nico paused to pull his chest plate over his head. “We think Connor’s using the infirmary as an excuse for them to see each other. That’s why he’s in there all the time.” 

Jason seemed to consider this for a second, pulling his own chest plate over his head as well. 

“He’s hiding something.” Nico continued, and Jason nodded. “he usually tells me these things by now but he hasn’t. If he wants to date Connor then by all means, date Connor. But I can’t figure out why he wouldn’t want to tell me.” 

“Maybe he’s scared you’ll judge him.” 

“Why? For being into guys? That’s illogical, he know’s I’m…y’know,” 

Jason nodded again. 

“I don't know then, man. The best advice I can give would be to talk to him about it. He’ll know better than Kayla.” He said, and this time, Nico nodded. 

“You’re right. But how do I bring that up? ‘Hey, so Connor Stoll, am I right’? That’s so awkward.” 

“It’s better than nothing.” 

Nico had to admit, it was. 

That’s how Nico found himself sitting beside Will that night at the campfire. Well, they sat together at every campfire, but tonight Nico couldn’t stop fidgeting. He couldn’t decide if it was the anxiety he felt about asking Will a personal question-something he rarely did-or it was the jealousy he felt toward Connor Stoll. Connor, for some reason, didn’t make a move to come sit anywhere near Will though, which Nico deemed weird. _If I was dating Will,_ he thought to himself, _I’d always want to sit beside him. Why wouldn’t Connor want to come over?_

That’s when it clicked: Maybe Connor and Will were having a secret affair. 

It wasn’t uncommon for campers to want to keep their personal lives private within the confines of camp. Camp Half-Blood was a small community filled with gossipy teens and hormones up the wazoo. The less others knew, the better. Of course Connor Stoll, Hermes’ resident trickster, and Will Solace, Apollo’s resident golden boy, wouldn’t want everyone knowing right away. People were already talking about them and they weren’t even official yet within the camp, Nico couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be an open couple with a reputation to uphold. 

And yet, Nico couldn’t seem to get the idea out of his head that Will wouldn’t want to hide his relationship. Will wasn’t really a secret-holding kind of guy and was generally pretty open about himself, and Nico was pretty sure he’d want to flaunt his relationship to the world. 

Apollo kids were dramatic like that. 

All night, Will didn’t look at Connor more than once or twice, but he was hyperaware of how close he was to Nico, taking note to how their knees and shoulders were pressed together in on the log they were sat on. Nico laughed and made jokes with Will, like they did at every campfire they attended together, and Will _prayed_ Nico couldn’t see the fond looks he could feel himself making. He knew he was in the deep end, getting swept away with every smile Nico cracked and every soft punch he received in the arm. Will didn’t give a second thought to Connor Stoll at all, his mind was clouded with the idea of Nico Di Angelo, but Nico just worried about Will. 

When the fire died down and the number of campers sitting around it began to dwindle, Nico found a lull in the conversation with his best friend and decided that then was as good a time as any. 

“Hey Will,” he started softly. Will turned his head to look Nico in the face completely, humming in response. “Is-has something been bothering you? Lately?” 

Will wasn’t quite sure how to answer that question, so he just did what he always did when he wasn’t sure: answered with another question. 

“What do you mean?” Will asked, and he watched as Nico’s eyebrows furrowed and his tongue darted out quickly, moistening his lips. 

“Well,” he swallowed, “you’ve been a little, uh…reserved, recently, and I know you usually like to talk about your problems, and you haven’t mentioned anything to me-which is fine! But I just want to make sure you’re okay.” Nico was fidgeting, and he knew it was because he was nervous. Will thought it was adorable. 

“Yeah, Neeks, I’m doing all right,” he gave a lopsided smile and Nico couldn’t help but smile back softly. 

“Good, good. But if you ever do want to talk, you know that you can, uh, talk to me. If you want to. I know I’m not always great with this sort of thing but…” 

“If I have any pressing matters, I’ll let you know, okay?” Will suggested. Nico nodded. 

“Okay,” 

“Good.” He said, and then found himself yawning. “I should get off to bed, I have early morning infirmary work tomorrow.”

And just like that, Will gave Nico a quick farewell, squeezing his shoulder as he walked past, leaving a hot sensation where Will’s hand had been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you see a continuity error, let me know please. I've been writing these chapters in between school and being social and sometimes I forget stuff. On that note, any and all feedback, comments, and questions are welcome. I won't judge so long as you're polite (and even then, I'm Canadian, so if you're mean I'll probably just apologize anyway). Stay healthy, amigos.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will and Nico are so pure. 
> 
> The next Magnus Chase book comes out today and apparently Nico makes an appearance? I don't know, I haven't read any of the Magnus books (I've been meaning to but I'm a busy kid) so that could just be speculation. Either way, I'm ready for some new PJO content. Gimme my boys, Rickle. 
> 
> Up ahead is some angst. You know how teenagers are.

Nico’s dreams had, once again, betrayed him. He sat in his bed for the better part of an hour after waking up in the dark, playing and replaying the visions he’d seen in his head. He knew, to a certain degree, that his subconscious was just messing with him, giving him false hope when all else was lost, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care. 

The dream had started off simply. Nico was sat at the Apollo table with Will across from him. Uncharacteristically, they were the only two people in the dining hall, but he didn’t question it. He and Will had chatted for some time about topics that didn’t matter-conversations that were soon erased from his memory the moment he’d woken up-and picking at the food in front of them, neither one of them actually eating anything. Nico watched as the sun peered through the windows and illuminated Will’s face gorgeously, bringing out the vibrant blue of his eyes and the golden colour of his hair. Dream-Nico caught himself smiling back at his friend. 

The part of the dream that truly mattered to Nico, the part he kept replaying in his head over and over again, was when Will stood up from his seat across from Nico wordlessly, leaned over the table dividing them, and kissed him softly. Nico had kissed back, of course, but by the time Dream-Will had sat back in his seat, Nico had woken up with a start. 

The blankets that normally were cast aside in the summer heat were still wrapped around his body, used as a shield to anyone who came in. Nico wasn’t sure who would bother him at dawn, but he couldn’t take any chances, and the blanket covering him seemed to take away the aspect of vulnerability he’d felt. 

Will’s dream kiss had been everything Nico thought kissing Will in real life would be like: soft, smooth, and not awkward at all. The kiss was tender. Will’s hand had been placed on his cheek as a guide and _gods_ Nico could _not_ stop thinking about it. He wanted nothing more than to find his friend, tell him off for being so damn irresistible, and kiss him for real. 

Of course, this meant Nico had to avoid Will all day. 

The idea of avoiding Will for the first part of the day wasn’t too difficult. He knew Will would be waking up soon and starting his morning shift at the infirmary, not getting off until mid-afternoon. By then, he could go to the beach and help Percy with his swim lessons or find Annabeth and help her plan for their next game of Capture the Flag, but those were both typical things he’d do in a day, and Will would find him easily. He’d need something less characteristic of himself if he wanted to avoid Will. Nico tossed around the idea of asking Chiron if he needed him to run errands, picking up any supplies from outside of camp with his shadow travel, but he’d done that recently and highly doubted any supplies would need to be topped up. Without the constant threat of impending doom, the camp seemed to be a little more resourceful than it had been in years past. 

Nico sighed heavily and rolled onto his side, facing the wall his bed was leaned against, and decided to try and get a little more sleep. 

That plan had worked for about an hour, but around 7:30 he awoke again to the vibrating sound of a bass guitar. He groaned loudly and threw his pillow over his head, which effectively did nothing to help the cause. He tried to ignore it, but that was fruitless as well. Nico just groaned louder and threw the pillow at his cabin door. He was notoriously _not_ a morning person, and now he wasn’t only awake, but he was _pissed._

In a full outfit of fuzzy, black pyjama pants, a plain grey t-shirt, and bare feet, he got up and threw his cabin door open, glaring at the world in front of him. The normal wake up time for campers wasn’t for another 30 minutes, but some of the younger campers and their cabin counsellors were already awake, walking through the yard together. Apparently, nobody else was phased by the obnoxious music. 

Nico stormed out and followed the beat, leading him directly to the infirmary. Already exhausted and annoyed, his personal agreement to avoid Will for the day didn’t even register to him. He swung open the infirmary’s entrance door and stood in the threshold as he listened to a Will sing along to what he considered to be a terrible song. It was loud, it was clearly pop music, and it had woken him up. Nico didn’t care how good the song may or may not have been at any other time of the day, right now it was _terrible_. 

But Nico couldn’t see Will from where he stood, and Will obviously hadn’t heard Nico open the door over the blaring music, so Nico just stood at listened to Will singing about a boy who really wanted to get into some girl’s pants. 

Nico had come in about halfway through the unnamed song, but his jaw almost dropped when he heard Will sing about the unnamed muse of the song, once again changing the lyrics to fit his current situation. 

_“Told it to his sister and he told it to me,_

_That he’s going to be an angel, just you wait and see,_

_When it turns out he’s a devil in between the sheets,_

_Well, there’s nothing he can do about it.”_

Nico’s heart sunk slightly. He didn’t exactly enjoy listening to his best friend and dream-crush singing about some other boy being a devil in between his sheets, but like the song suggested, there wasn’t really anything he could do about it. He stood for a moment, anger still strong, listening to Will sing along with the ending of the chorus and then remembered why he’d come out in the first place, and charged in. When he found Will sitting at his desk with a pen in hand and a stack of papers in front of him, he frowned. Will kept on singing, clearly in his own world, repeating, “ _wanna die, wanna die, wanna die, tonight”._

Beside Nico was the aux cord that Will’s iPod was hooked up to. Nico reached over and unplugged it, shutting off the music immediately. Will jumped in shock and quickly looked at Nico with wide eyes. 

“If you don’t turn this shit down, you _will_ die tonight.” Nico said sternly. Will cracked a smile.

“Sorry, Nico. Did I wake you up?” 

“Yes! Who in the underworld listens to-” He paused and looked at the iPod’s screen, “Harry Styles at 7:30 in the damn morning?” 

“I needed something to wake me up,” Will said in defence. Nico walked over to the desk Will was sat at and placed the iPod face down with just enough force to really drive his point home. Will just looked amused as he gazed into Nico’s clearly annoyed eyes. 

“Drink coffee next time.” 

“Waking myself up naturally is much healthier than drinking coffee,” he smirked. Nico huffed. “Aw, are you grumpy?” He asked, and faked a pout. Nico glanced at Will’s mouth for only half a second, but that didn’t stop the overwhelming urge to kiss the pout right off of him. From where he was standing, it would have been easy. Will was sat in a computer chair at the desk, turned to face Nico, and Nico was supporting his own weight on his right arm, leaning on the desk and hovering over Will. They were painfully close, and both boys knew this, but neither one of them moved. 

“Breakfast isn’t for another hour, and I’m awake at the ass-crack of dawn. Yes, I’m grumpy.” Nico chided. Will just chuckled lightly. 

“Dawn was an hour and a half ago. It’s just morning at this point.” 

“You’re pushing it, Solace.” 

“All right, all right, I’ll keep it down,” Will raised his hands in mock defence. Nico kept eye contact and continued glaring. Will just smirked. “Can I get back to filling out paper work now?” He asked, pointing to the desk quickly. Nico stood up straight and adjusted his shirt before backing away slowly, holding the eye contact for a few steps before he turned and left the infirmary. 

When he got back to his cabin, he picked up the pillow that had been laying on the floor and decided that a shower would be a good way to wake himself up, but as he got undressed and turned on the water to warm up, he just could not stop thinking about kissing Will. 

He knew it was ridiculous. Will was clearly into someone else, and Nico’s dream from that night had messed with his emotions. As he stepped into the shower, he chided himself for even considering the possibility of kissing Will in the infirmary. Whether he wanted to or not, Will wasn’t his to kiss, he was Connor’s.

That thought had been the one that hurt the most. 

After the shower, Nico quickly threw on the same black jeans he’d been wearing the day before and a black t-shirt with a white skeletal hand on the front. He looked in the bathroom mirror once more, fixing his hair so it didn’t look like a complete mess, and then made way to the dining hall for breakfast. 

Nico sat with the Apollo kids again, and then mentally questioned why he kept doing this when Will wasn’t around. He considered Kayla, Austin, and some of Will’s other siblings to be his friends as well, but he knew that without Will there, all they’d do is talk about their big brother’s new love life, and suddenly sitting by himself didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“Did you see Connor hovering by the infirmary again yesterday?” 

“No, oh my gods, when?”

“After campfire,” 

“Will wasn’t in the infirmary after campfire,” Nico said, not taking his eyes off his food, and they all looked at him incredulously, surprised at his lack of ignorance over the topic of discussion. 

“Where was he then?” Kayla asked. Nico looked up from his cereal and addressed the group. 

“He went to bed early, I don’t know exactly what time.” 

Kayla and Austin shared a look. 

“What else do you know?” Austin asked with a sly smile, and Nico had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. 

“It’s not like I know his every thought and action,” he told him. Austin scoffed. 

“Dude, you’re like, his best friend. He tells you everything.” 

“Not _everything,”_

 _“_ Yes, _everything,_ Nico! He tells you more than he tells all of us combined.” 

“You’re his siblings,” 

“So?” Kayla chimed in. “I tell Will everything, and Austin tells me everything. We confide in each other, it’s what siblings do.” Nico thought briefly about Bianca, how he never had the opportunity to tell her everything about his life, and how he’d changed so much since he was 10. She’d been gone almost 6 years, and there was so much new information he wanted to fill her in on, but he couldn’t. He didn’t allow himself to think too deeply about it. Not in front of the Apollo kids. 

“I know this guy he’s crushing on has a sister,” Nico said quietly, and then shoved a spoonful of frosted flakes in his mouth. Kayla rolled her eyes. 

“Okay? Hermes cabin has seven girls, this just confirms our theory.” She said, and Nico nodded once.

“We want juicy deets, Nico!” Phoebe told him. Nico swallowed his food and shrugged. 

“He hasn’t talked to me about his new…boyfriend. At all.” Nico decided that calling this new person in Will’s life his _boyfriend_ left a bad taste in his mouth, and never doing so again was a good idea. However, apparently Kayla found this fact completely baffling. 

“Wait, he hasn’t told you anything?”

“No, Kayla,” 

“Why not?”

“He didn’t exactly tell me why he was withholding information from me, either.” 

Kayla hummed and then whispered something into Austin’s ear, and suddenly they were in their own little world, talking about the possibilities of their brother’s _boyfriend_. 

Gods, even thinking it send a nasty chill down Nico’s spine. He glanced over at the Hermes table and saw Connor and Travis talking to the only sister who was also their age, Jen. Jen was nice enough, never really pulled pranks or stole from other campers, but she was really into travelling. Rumour was that Jen’s step-dad was pretty rich, and wanted to prove himself as a capable replacement father to the one who walked out on her to the point where he’d buy her anything she wanted. She lived in New York, but if she wanted to fly down the Texas for the afternoon, all she had to do was ask. She never really abused this privilege, but she was definitely one of the most well-travelled Hermes kids out there. Nico watched as she covered her mouth while she laughed, nudging Connor lightly in his direction. Connor happened to catch Nico’s eye and smiled. Nico gave a tight-lipped smile in return and turned back to his now half-soggy cereal. 

Nico may have had an okay sleep the night before, but his day was really starting to go south. Sure, Nico helped save the planet a couple of times, but that didn’t mean he was immune to bad days. It wasn’t even 10am yet, and he was already thinking about how much better Connor would be for Will than he would be. Connor pulled pranks and stole, but he only ever did it with an innocent intent-he wanted to create fun and enjoyment. Nico could only think about his own flaws as he ate his cereal: his too-long hair, his tendency to push people away before they can get too close, his being the only child of Hades at Camp Half-Blood, his own general scariness. He wasn’t blind, he knew people were shocked when they saw him without warning. All of these things were small insecurities Nico had, but they can add up. In the past year he had really been working toward a better understanding of his own self worth, but sometimes bad days happen. Today was just one of them. 

After breakfast he moped around camp for a while, stopping by the beach briefly to help Percy teach kids to swim like he’d planned on doing, but that didn’t last long. Unfortunately, Percy was a really good teacher, and the group of young kids were fast learners. Once they had the basics, they were doggy-paddling their way to victory in no time. Nico asked Annabeth if she’d wanted help strategizing, but she said she had it all under control already. Around lunch time, he even stopped by Aphrodite cabin and asked if they wanted him to pick up anything for them, but Drew informed him that they’d recently gone on a makeup haul and didn’t require his services. 

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to do. Normally Nico would be relieved and take the day off, but he couldn’t stop thinking about his own shortcomings and desperately needed a distraction or two. So, with lack of a better plan, he walked over to the hills beside the strawberry patches and lay in the grass with his eyes closed. This didn’t cure him, of course, but laying in the soft grass with his hands behind his head and the smell of strawberries engulfing him made him feel calmer. 

Nico nodded off once or twice, feeling the warmth of the summer sun on his skin, but he didn’t really take a nap. The gorgeous weather seemed to clear his mind, and his thoughts were fairly empty, but a certain blonde kept popping into his brain. Alone and in comfort, he allowed himself to think about Will. His blonde hair, the blue eyes he could get lost in, the way his laugh seemed to erase all of Nico’s pain. Nico was smitten, but he didn’t want to be. He wanted to just go back to just being Will’s friend. He wanted Will to feel comfortable enough with him to talk about relationship issues. He wanted to just be Will’s buddy. 

But, then again, no he didn’t. 

He wanted nothing more than to hug Will when he was sad, kiss his face first thing in the morning, help him in the infirmary whenever he could, hold his hand, play with his hair, make him blush. Nico wasn’t a very open person, but he wanted to show Will off and let everyone know that Will was _his,_ not Connor Stoll’s. The only problem with that was the fact that Will wasn’t his, and if his theories were right, he was Connor Stoll’s. 

That left Nico frowning slightly. He took a deep breath of fresh air, smelling the strawberries as he did, and tried to relax. He came out here to avoid Will and relax. That’s what he was going to do. 

Or, maybe not. 

“You’re going to get a sunburn.” Came Will’s voice from behind him. Nico reflexively tensed before sitting up and turning to look at him. Will wore what he always wore: khaki shorts with way too many things in his pockets, a tattered and old Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, and sneakers. To Nico, he looked perfect. 

“I’m Italian, I don’t burn.” Nico told him, and Will shrugged. 

“Unless you’re me or one of my siblings, you’ll burn eventually,” he chided back as he approached Nico and sat down beside him, crossing his legs in front of himself, and leaning back on his hands. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the infirmary?” Nico asked, and Will shook his head lightly. 

“I got out a while ago,” 

“What time is it?” 

Will looked up at the sun above them and then back at Nico. “About 3:45.” 

“There’s no way you can tell the time from the sun.” Nico snorted. Will chuckled lightly. 

“You got me, I checked the clock on my way out of my cabin,” 

Nico smiled, like he always did when he was with Will, but this time it felt just a little more empty. 

“So, what are you doing out here?” Will asked, looking Nico in the eye. Nico shrugged lightly, and left it at that. 

Nico lay down again, and Will followed suit. The boys lay in the grass for a while in a general silence, listening to the birds and bugs and the sound of celestial bronze clanging from the arena in the distance. Will asked how Nico was, Nico said he was fine (which Will knew meant Nico was having a tough day, but he didn’t push) and asked how Will was doing, and he said he was tired. 

Will told him about the day’s events, apologized again for playing his music too loudly earlier in the day, and then started telling Nico about the weirdest injury of the day. 

“It was Jen,” he started, and then chuckled lightly. “One of her younger brothers thought it would be _so_ funny to put a garter snake in her bed, and it bit her. It wasn’t poisonous or anything, but she could have gotten an infection,” Nico turned his head to look at Will beside him. Will was using his hands as he spoke, smiling and looking up at the sky while he imitated Jen’s exasperated words in a high pitched voice, laughing lightly as he described the look on her face when he said she’d require a needle injection. Nico spaced out, drowning Will’s words out as he focused on how beautiful the boy beside him was, until he was forcefully pulled right back into reality. 

“…and then Connor came in with Travis, and they were laughing so loudly that I couldn’t tell Jen to prepare for the needle, so I just stabbed her with it-hitting her vein in the first try, might I add-and gave her the antibiotic before she could yell at me,” Will chuckled lightly again and turned to face Nico as well. 

Nico noticed just how close they were laying together, once again taking notice to how easy it would be to kiss Will, thinking back to the dream he’d had this morning and physically _aching_ at the fact that he’d never be able to feel that. Nico’s eyes darted back and forth between Will’s, taking notice of Will’s blank expression, and then he shot upwards, sitting straight up again. Will slowly sat up to mirror his best friend. 

“Will,” Nico said. He didn’t dare look at Will, opting instead to look at the fields in front of him, but he knew Will was looking at him, and could almost see the concerned look that took over his face. “Do you, uh-Connor’s at the infirmary a lot, lately, and,” Nico swallowed quickly, collecting his thoughts. He really hasn’t planned on this conversation happening right then (or at all that day, or ever) so he was a little ill-prepared. “Are you and Connor a…thing? Like, dating?” 

Will didn’t say anything. He kept looking at Nico, wondering if he was joking or working _with_ Connor on some elaborate prank, but Nico showed no sign of joking on his face. Nico finally decided to turn his head and look Will in the eye. 

“No,” Will said slowly, confusion littering his face. Nico wasn’t sure how to read the situation. He’d expected yes. He’d expected Will to be relieved that Nico asked and then instantly start gushing about his new relationship with the son of Hermes. He did not expect ‘no’. “What makes you think I’m dating Connor?” 

“Oh, well, Kayla pointed out that he’s at the infirmary a lot,” 

“He gets injured a lot,” 

“I know, but he’s there a lot, even when he doesn’t need to be, and Austin says he gives you this _look_ whenever you guys are together, and-”

“Wait, wait a second,” Will shifted his body to face Nico completely, putting a hand up as he spoke. “Kayla and Austin and you. You’ve all discussed this. But none of you decided to actually _ask_ me?” 

“Well,” Nico had nothing. 

“You guys talked about me and nobody thought, _‘hey, maybe we should talk_ to _him instead of_ about _him?’_ ” Will was annoyed. Nico could tell Will was annoyed. His tone of voice, the offended look on his face. Nico didn’t really know what to say, so he rambled. 

“It’s just, you know, Connor’s always there, and you haven’t been coming to meals a lot, and we thought maybe you guys did have something going on-which is fine-but we didn’t know if you’d wanted to keep your relationship a secret, so-”

“There’s no relationship to keep as a secret, Nico.” 

“I know that now, but-” 

“And I’m not at meals because I’m _working_ , you know, in the giant infirmary that I run? And as a counsellor for my cabin? And I go to the same weekly meetings you do.” 

“Okay, it’s just that we noticed that you like someone, and we thought-” 

“You thought talking about me when I’m not there would clear anything up? Why does it matter if I have feelings for somebody? How does that effect any of you?” 

Nico’s mouth went dry. He knew this was a bad idea, he knew he shouldn’t have been talking about Will without him there, he _knew_ something like this would happen. 

“Will, I’m sorry,” 

Will let out a large breath and stood up. 

“It’s fine. Look, I’ve got to get going, I’ll catch you later.” 

And just like that, Will was gone. Nico wasn’t entirely sure what happened, but he knew it was his fault.

At dinner, he avoided the Apollo table. Will was with his siblings again, but Nico decided to just sit at his own table, where he’s technically _supposed_ to sit while he eats. He knew Will would want some space, but gods, did it hurt to see Will so disgruntled. Nico’s table was at the front of the dining hall, off to the left and beside Zeus’ table, which sat in between the Hades and Poseidon table. Every meal, Jason and Percy would sit at the very edge of their tables, as close as they could get to each other without disobeying the rules, and laugh with each other. However, Jason and Percy both watched with wide eyes as Nico walked past their tables to his own, and whispered rather loudly to each other once he sat down. He pretended not to hear them, but he couldn’t ignore the loud sound of chairs scraping across the wooden floors as Jason scooted toward him. 

Nico was sat in the middle of his table. The table was large and could fit at least 12 people comfortably, but there were only ever 2 chairs-one for him, and one for Hazel when she visited from time to time.  He didn’t look up when Jason got to the edge of his table and called out his name, he just kept his head down, hoping Jason would get the message that he really did not want to talk right now. Whether or not that message got to Jason is unknown, and he just kept calling out Nico’s name. After the 7th, ‘ _Nico, look at me,’_ Nico rolled his eyes dramatically and looked to his right at Jason, who looked ridiculous, himself. He was sat on the edge of his chair, leaning as far forward as he possibly could with his butt still planted, and his hand placed on the table to show that he hadn’t actually _left_ his table to sit anywhere else. If Chiron called him out on it, Jason knew he could argue that he technically wasn’t sitting with Nico (but considering how many times he argued that same point but in regard to Percy instead of Nico, he doubted Chiron would bother him). 

“Nico, what’s up,” Jason called to him, but Nico just shrugged. “Come here!” 

“No,” Nico mouthed, shaking his head slightly. 

“Nico,” 

“Jason,” 

“Don’t make me force you over here,” 

“How are you going to do that?” 

Famous last words. With the flick of his wrist, a huge gust of wind blew Nico down to the end of the table, stopping right in front of his friend’s legs. His dinner was thrown across the dining hall, and Jason just offered a quick “whoops”. 

“It’s fine, I wasn’t going to eat it anyway.” Nico said, pushing his chair back a little bit so he wasn’t quite so close to Jason. Jason ignored his previous statement. 

“What’s bothering you?” 

“Nothing,” 

“Is it the fight you had with Will?” 

This sparked interest in Nico. 

“How do you know about that?”

“Drew saw Will walking away from where you guys were and apparently he looked angry, and then she told Lacy and Kiera, and then Kiera told Mitchell, and Mitchell told Piper, and Piper told me.”

“Great,” Nico gave a tight lipped and sarcastic smile, suddenly annoyed at how often people gossiped at this small camp, and then chided himself for doing so, realizing that this is probably exactly how Will felt when he found out Nico and his siblings had been gossiping about him. Nico sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “It was a small argument,” he offered, and Jason just nodded. 

“Is that why you’re not sitting over there?” Jason nodded his head in the direction of the Apollo table, and Nico’s gaze followed. He looked quickly at the Apollo kids, taking notice of how much quieter everyone in the group seemed to be. There wasn’t the usual laughter and singing and bright smiles that littered their faces. Instead, conversations were held, but they looked empty. Sitting in the middle of the table, facing Jason and Nico but not looking up from his food, was Will Solace. His head was in his left hand, his right hand held a fork, and he was poking at his food while he chewed. Nico couldn’t help but take notice of how uncharacteristic of himself Will looked without a bright smile on his face, and hated himself for being the reason that smile was misplaced. Nico looked back at Jason but didn’t say anything. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Jason answered his own question, leaning back into his chair.

“It’s my fault,” Nico said quietly. Jason just nodded again. 

“So apologize,” 

“I have,”

“Outside of the argument?” 

That wasn’t something Nico was prepared to be asked. He’d apologized in the moment, when Will was mad, but Jason was right; he needed to talk to Will privately, outside of the heat of the argument, and apologize for being insensitive. 

“No, I guess I haven’t,” 

“So…?” 

“I will later, okay? I’m not going to do it right now,” 

“Why not?” Jason looked genuinely confused as to why Nico didn’t want to apologize to Will in front of the entire camp. Nico just rolled his eyes again. 

“Because I don’t want to do it in front of his siblings.” 

“Nico, look at him,” Jason started, and he did. It was a brief glance, but Nico noticed that Will looked the same as he had 30 seconds previously. “He looks miserable.” 

Nico once again scolded himself for being the reason Will looked miserable. 

“I know,” He sighed, “I’ll talk to him after dinner, all right?” 

Jason looked discontented, but he nodded anyway. 

Nico thought back to this morning, when he’d made a silent agreement with himself to avoid Will all day, so as to not think about his stupid feelings, and was annoyed that he hadn’t gone through with that plan. Will wouldn’t be upset if he’d just stayed away, but, like always, Nico managed to screw everything up. 

He stood up and pushed his chair back to where it normally sat before stuffing his hands in his pockets and leaving the dining hall. He wasn’t hungry anymore, but even if he was, his meal was currently on the floor. He wasn’t sure where he was going or what he was doing, but his legs kept walking. Nico passed the arena, passed the fields he and Will had been laying in earlier in the day, passed the pathways that lead to the beach, but nothing seemed to call to him. Maybe it was the ADHD, maybe it was the guilt, or maybe it was a mixture of the two, but nowhere in Camp Half-Blood seemed good enough to just sit and think things over. Everywhere reminded him of Will, and it was beginning to get a little overwhelming. Eventually, Nico circled back around to the cabins and took a seat on the steps leading up to his cabin door. 

That’s where Will found him after dinner, sitting on the steps of his cabin, cleaning his sword with a cloth that Will was pretty sure used to be a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. He was staring at Nico, he knew he was, admiring how soft Nico looked under the green lighting of the torches that framed his cabin door. No matter how upset Will had been with the son of Hades, he couldn’t stop the butterflies in his stomach, and gods know just how much more excited those butterflies got when Nico looked up and made eye contact with Will. 

For a moment, neither boy said anything. Will stopped in his tracks, just looking at Nico, and Nico had ceased cleaning the sword, putting it and the cloth on either side of him slowly. Will gave a small smile, one that barely reached his eyes, and nodded a quick _hello._ Nico stood quickly and walked toward Will, stepping over the last step as he did so. Will didn’t move, he was almost afraid to. He wasn’t afraid of Nico, but he was afraid walking away would do more harm than good, and right now he just wanted things to be okay with his best friend. 

It’s not like they haven’t ever fought before. Hell, they bickered all the time. Constant nicknames and teasing and shoving, but all of it came with an understanding- _when push came to shove, I’d do anything for you._ This argument was different from the others, though. This one wasn’t them disagreeing on something and having it blow out of proportion. This one was hurt feelings, mistakes, and misplaced anger. 

“Will,” Nico said softly, pulling Will back into reality. 

“Nico,” he replied, due to lack of anything better to say. 

“Will, I’m sorry,” Again, Nico spoke quietly, as if he were afraid that Will would run off, like a rabbit.

“No, I’m sorry, I overreacted-”

“You didn’t overreact,” Nico’s voice gained a little more confidence with that, as if he was slightly offended that Will could assume he’d done anything wrong. 

“Yeah, I did. I shouldn’t have been so harsh on you. I know you guys were just-”

“Will, seriously, you have nothing to be sorry about. It wasn’t your fault, it was mine, I shouldn’t have been talking behind your back.” 

Will didn’t have any other arguments to make. He still felt bad, of course, but he knew Nico wouldn’t stand down for this. Nico’s stubborn, and he knows better than to make this into another argument. 

“It’s okay,” Will said, reaching his right hand out and putting it on Nico’s bicep. He smiled, a genuine smile this time, and squeezed lightly, making Nico’s knees feel weak. 

“Good, good,” Nico was barely able to make out. Will lowered his hand, fingers brushing his arm the whole way down, and it felt like his skin was on fire wherever Will touched. He coughed lightly, clearing his throat. “So, uh, what are your plans for the night?”

“I’m just heading to the infirmary real quick and then to the campfire, you want to come along?” 

And just like that, everything went back to normal. The boys spent the night laughing, leaving lingering looks and bad nicknames wherever they went, and Nico didn’t seem to mind the bad songs that the campers sang together. The bad songs seemed to sound _amazing_ when they were coming from Will’s mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small amounts of angst fill my soul. Lots of angst fuels me. I don't know really how to write angst though so I'll just stick to reading about it. 
> 
> Your support on my stories (this one and others) is so, so appreciated. I know this is a dying fandom but I just can't seem to let these kids go, and I'm ready to single-handedly fuel this ship if need be. 
> 
> As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. I'm debating between making one final, large chapter, or making two more, but I feel like four chapters total is good here. I'm not really sure where else this story could go, you know? Let me know if you have any ideas! These stories aren't just mine, they're yours too!

**Author's Note:**

> It's short, I know. I promise, all upcoming chapters are at least 2k words each (chapter 3 is 5k) but this is just the intro. 
> 
> Feedback and comments are always, always appreciated. You could tell me that you hate me and I'd appreciate the time it took for you to make that comment. Have a good day and stay hydrated, kiddos.


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